World War II never looked so authentic...

Rating: 7/10 (24 March 2007)

THE LONGEST DAY is an expensive World War II epic that leaves you with the feeling that you know what D-day, the 6th of June was really like for American soldiers. On the other hand, it leaves you with the feeling that somewhere around the bend another great movie star or film personality is about to make another appearance.
It's this disparity between truth and Hollywoodized fiction that struggles constantly to win your attention as you watch what is actually a very realistic depiction of what it must have been like during that fateful day when America lost so many of its splendid soldiers on the field of battle.
It's a film that opts for realism, whether it's telling the story from the American point of view or the German--never sugarcoating any of the sequences but presenting the fateful day in an almost documentary fashion with the kind of realism and attention to detail that is awe inspiring.
Suffice it to say that all of the names fit perfectly into the scheme of things, never giving the impression that the director chose them at random for star value. Whether English, German or French, all of the roles are beautifully played.
With the Fuhrer having taken a "sleeping pill", the German commanders realize they are losing the war. Unfortunately, it's such an epic film that it doesn't give you a chance to identify with any of the characters to the extent that you can care what becomes of them. That, indeed, is the film's major flaw.
Truthfully, while all of the invasion sequences are extremely well staged for maximum effect, what's distracting is when the viewer's attention strays from the story upon seeing name players pop up unexpectedly in the midst of explosive action. Just a few of the names come readily to mind: JOHN WAYNE, PETER LAWFORD, RODDY McDOWELL, SEAN CONNERY, ROBERT MITCHUM, RED BUTTONS, HENRY FONDA, ROBERT RYAN, ROD STEIGER, RICHARD BEYMER and others. Fox seemed intent on using just about every male star in the business to fill the huge number of speaking roles.
Summing up: If World War II war films about D-Day, the 6th of June, are of interest to you, THE LONGEST DAY, from a novel by Cornelius Ryan, is an essential, not to be missed, in all of its B&W glory.